This invention relates to an apparatus for securing parts to an assembly by making use of a carrying means operated automatically under the control of a computer, a sequence control and the like.
Heretofore, carrying means have been utilized to drive parts when various assemblies are fabricated so that productivity can be increased.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus for driving parts comprises a carrying means 54, a tool gripping means 55 attached to the front end of the arm 52 of the carrying means 54, a part storage 56 installed within the range of a distance the tool gripping means 55 can cover, and a plurality of tools 58 for respectively receiving parts 57 and being kept on standby until carried by the arm 52.
The operation of the apparatus will subsequently be described. The arm 52 is first moved by a transfer mechanism 53 to a position A where the tool is received thereby as shown by an alternate long and two short dashes line of FIG. 1, whereby the tool gripping means 55 attached to the front end thereof is allowed to grip one of the tools 58 which are on standby in the storage 56.
The arm 52 is further moved to a position B where the part is driven and the tool 58 is moved in close to a site of an assembly body 59 to which the part is secured. The tool 58 is then used to secure the part 57 to the assembly body 59 after the part 57 is made to abut against the site of the assembly body 59 shown in FIG. 2.
The carrying means 54 again operates so as to move the arm 52 to the position A where the part is received after the first part is driven, thus allowing the tool gripping means 55 to grip the next tool 58 supplied with the part 57. Then the arm 52 is moved to the position B where the part 57 is secured thereto.
The parts 57 of the same kind or different kinds are successively secured to the assembly body 59 as the arm 52 of the carrying means 54 reciprocates likewise.
As shown in FIG. 3, the tool 58 is so arranged as to be gripped by the tool gripping means 55 through a gripping member 60, and to be moved up and down by an air cylinder 64 provided at its upper portion. When the part 57 is fitted into the supply aperture 62 of a supply means 61 provided under the gripping member 60, the actuating means 63 of the tool 58 operates, so that the part 57 is secured to the assembly body 59.
Parts may be driven at a substantially low cost by means of the above apparatus. While special emphasis is increasingly placed on improvement in part driving productivity, however, the following problem has been posed.
Since the carrying means 54 is used to transport the parts 57 one after another from the position A where the tool is received to the other B where the part is secured to the assembly body 59, the reciprocating time required for the robot to reciprocate between the above two positions becomes longer than what is actually required for it to drive the part 57 and, when it is attempted to shorten the part driving time, the above reciprocating time will inevitably become rate-determining.